For Immediate Release
Contact: Olivia Hall, media@endthebacklog.org
NEW YORK – This month, we celebrate the signing of HB21 in Alabama, creating a new law that will shed light on the extent of untested rape kits in the state. We applaud Governor Ivey for signing this important bill which will increase accountability around the rape kit handling process. Additionally, we would like to thank Representative Brown, whose commitment to this bill carried it over the finish line this year.
The new law will require law enforcement agencies to report the number of sexual assault cases reported, the number of sexual assault kits submitted for DNA analysis, and the number of sexual assault cases closed. It also requires the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences to report the number of sexual assault cases that were completed per year, as well as the number of backlogged kits.
“I am proud to be the sponsor of this legislation,” says Representative Chip Brown of Alabama. “With increased reporting of sexual assaults we can shine a light on the total number of sexual assaults in every area of the state and college campuses, this will help speed up the process of testing kits and provide the public with important information to help keep them safe.”
Sexual assault kits and other sexual assault-related evidence are currently stored in numerous places: police department evidence rooms, forensic laboratories, hospitals, clinics, or rape crisis centers. Thirty-six states, including Alabama, have enacted legislation requiring a statewide inventory of unsubmitted rape kits. Other states have voluntarily counted the number of unsubmitted kits in their jurisdictions. Until all jurisdictions complete an inventory process, the number of untested rape kits nationwide remains unknown.
“Once the extent of a state’s backlog is revealed, real reform can take place,” says Ilse Knecht, Director of Policy and Advocacy at the Joyful Heart Foundation. “When law enforcement agencies account for the untested kits in their custody, communities can begin to take steps to test those kits, hold offenders accountable and bring justice to sexual assault survivors whose cases have languished, often for years—or even decades. HB359 begins to forge a meaningful path to healing for all survivors in Alabama.”
Currently, Alabama has fulfilled one of Joyful Heart’s six pillars, a victim’s right to know the status of their rape kit. This bill will bring that number up to two, satisfying our criteria for the inventory pillar.
Learn more about reform in Alabama at Endthebacklog.org/Alabama. If you have any questions or need more information, do not hesitate to contact our media department at Media@EndtheBacklog.org to connect with our director of Policy and Advocacy, Ilse Knecht.
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End the Backlog is a program of the Joyful Heart Foundation, a national nonprofit organization founded by producer, director, actress, and advocate Mariska Hargitay with the mission to transform society’s response to sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, and support survivors’ healing.